Joyce Meyer - How Can I Deal With Doubt? (08/21/2019)
Joyce Meyer addresses the persistent battle with doubt, even after making faith decisions – like nagging hangnails that keep catching. Using Paul's storm experience in Acts 27 and Abraham's unwavering faith in Romans 4, she teaches to fight doubt by boldly releasing faith through speech, praise, and trust in God's promises, refusing to waver, and affirming identity in Christ despite imperfections.
Dealing with Nagging Doubt After Decisions
You know, I think doubt, nagging doubts. You've made a decision. Now, here comes the nagging doubts. It's like having a bad hangnail. You just never know when it's going to go, ooh. Such a little thing, but such a huge problem.
Have any of you been dealing with the hangnail of doubt? Doubt. Doubt comes to attack all of us. It attacked Abraham. I'm sure that doubt even tried to attack the mind of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I think he had to lift up the shield of faith. Abraham had to lift up the shield of faith.
When doubt comes against us, we just can't say, well, you know, I just wish I didn't have such a problem with doubt. You've got to lift up the shield of faith and you've got to say, I believe. I believe that everything that God has told me will come to pass.
Storms Follow Faith Decisions – Acts 27
Let's look at Acts chapter 27. And beginning in verse 14. Now, Paul was in a ship with several other people. And guess what? A violent storm came up.
Just like when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples and he said, let us cross over to the other side. The very next thing that happened was a violent storm of hurricane proportions came up.
Just about any time that you set your mind, you make a decision, you decide to do better in life, you decide to make a commitment to something you believe God's asking you to make a commitment to, the next thing you can probably expect is a storm.
I hate to tell you that. I'd rather tell you that's not the case, but I would just be telling you what you'd like to hear rather than reality if I did that. There's going to be a storm.
But soon afterward, a violent wind of the character of a typhoon called a Northeasterner came bursting down from the island. And when the ship was caught and was unable to head against the wind, we gave up and let her drift and be borne along.
We ran under the shelter of a small island called Cotta, where we managed with much difficulty to draw the ship's small boat onto deck. After hoisting it on board, they used supporters and he goes on and on and on here and talks about all the different things that they did and how difficult it was and the people were getting all depressed and discouraged and on and on and on.
Stay in Good Spirits in the Storm
And then Paul says, let's start in verse 22, but even now I beg you to be in good spirits and take heart.
So right in the middle of this horrible storm, Paul is saying, I'm begging you to stay in good spirits. You know, that's kind of hard, isn't it, when you've got a storm in your life to be happy and have a good attitude.
Yet the Bible tells us that we're to keep our joy. In this world there will be tribulation, Jesus said. Cheer up. Cheer up.
Come on, I'm having a hard time even getting a smile out of you, let alone a laugh. Cheer up. I have overcome the world.
So Paul said, I beg you to stay in good spirits. Joy is powerful if you won't lose your joy. And take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you but only of the ship.
For this very night there stood by my side an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve and worship. And he said, do not be frightened, Paul. It's necessary for you to stand before Caesar.
And behold, God has given you all of those who are sailing with you.
So now I love this. So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith, complete confidence in God that it will be exactly as it was told to me.
Now, that's when you need to say, when you're in the middle of the storm, that's when you need to say, I believe that it will be exactly as God has promised in my life.
We don't just sing it in church, but we say it in the storm. I believe that it will be exactly as God has told me.
I don't know when. I don't know how. And actually, the truth is, I've decided not to worry about it. I'm going to leave all that to God, and I'm going to go ahead and enjoy every day of my life that I have, because God is working on my situation, and I believe. I believe.
Release Faith to Fight Doubt
I think the way that we lift up that shield of faith is to release our faith through our mouth. See, faith is a force that resides on the inside of you, that's been given to you by God.
But in order for faith to do any good, it has to be released. And I think we release faith through saying, through praying, and through doing.
I think you take... I believe that I release my faith every time I come from that little corner over there, and I come out here, and I stand in front of you, and I open my mouth. That's my action of faith.
And actually, you wouldn't... I mean, you know, I'm not afraid to do this. I've done it so much. But when I walked over there, out here, first time this morning, I just thought, well, Lord, here we go again.
You know, you think I always feel anointed to do this, and I feel like I've got the right thing to say? Sometimes I don't... you know, it's like, well... You know, but I just find if I walk out here, that's my step of faith to trust God to show up.
And a lot of times, I don't feel that He's with me until I do that. See, a lot of times, we want all the proof that God is working in our life before we'll do anything.
You have faith given to you as a gift from God, but you've got to release it. And you've got to release it by taking God-inspired action, by praying God-inspired prayers, and by saying things that agree with God's Word.
So when doubt comes, the way you fight doubt is to doubt your doubt. And when the devil puts the thought of doubt, you say, I doubt that doubt.
And I believe that it will be exactly as God has told me that it will be.
So we've learned that we need to deal with doubt by releasing our faith. And we release our faith through prayer. But how does that apply when we doubt God Himself?
Abraham's Faith Without Weakening – Romans 4
Romans 4 verse 18. For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone, hope done in faith. He must have had some really, really, really lousy circumstances.
He had a promise from God. Nothing happened according to the timetable that he would have chosen. Part of it was his own fault because he got in the flesh. And since God wasn't moving fast enough, he, him and Sarah concocted a plan of their own.
And I think that just put off God's answer. All human reason for hope being gone, he hoped on in faith that he would become the father of many nations. As it had been promised unto him.
He had a promise from God. It took too long. Things weren't happening. He had to look at his body, which was as good as dead. He had to look at Sarah, who was barren and way past childbearing years.
I mean, the two of them, I'm sure, were quite a mess if you just took it at face value. And yet, they had a promise from God that they were going to have a child. And that he would be the father of many nations.
He didn't weaken in faith when he considered the utter impotence of his own body. Which was as good as dead. Because he was about a hundred years old.
Or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's dead womb. Everything here is dead.
Now watch this. No unbelief or distrust made him waver or doubtingly question concerning the promise of God.
But he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he opened up his mouth and said something that was going to release this faith.
He's waiting. Doubt is coming. Questions are coming. Wavering is coming. It's attacking him.
And he opens up his mouth and gives praise and glory to God. God, I praise you and I thank you that I have a promise from you.
And I thank you, God, that you are not a man that you should lie. I know, God, that you're working and I believe that I will see the outcome of my faith.
I'm telling you what, we do a lot of talking but I wonder how many in this room are talking about the right thing at the right time.
Usually what we do when we have problems, we call up a friend and grumble. We call up somebody we know and we murmur. We want everybody to feel sorry for us.
Which is comforting the flesh but does us no spiritual good whatsoever. Amen.
You know, sometimes lifting up that shield of faith takes a little more of an effort than maybe that we would like to make.
Because you never know how many times a day you're gonna have to pick the thing up. Keep the devil's fiery darts away from you.
Everything that God asks us to do is not easy. He gave us the shield. But you know what I would get if I did this long enough? I would get a muscle in this right arm.
And that's exactly what some of us need. We need more muscles from using our faith. Hallelujah.
He grew strong in faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Not as he murmured and grumbled and complained.
We have to start saying something in our storms that's gonna do us some good. And not just talk about the storm.
The Bible says we can speak to the mountain. It doesn't say talk about the mountain. It says speak to it and tell it where to go. Hallelujah.
You have power in your mouth. The power of life and death is in your tongue.
It's one thing to sound churchy in church. It's another thing when you're by yourself in your midnight hour and you feel like all hell's coming against you.
That's when you need to speak the word. And you need to speak it out loud.
Many of you watching my television right now, you're sitting in your homes or watching on your computer or wherever you're at.
I want you to be encouraged today that God knows your need. He knows your name. He's heard your prayers. But don't you quit. And don't you give up.
Because God is faithful. God is faithful. Amen.
I don't think our problem is so much with God as it is with us. I think our doubt comes because we doubt ourselves a lot more than we doubt God.
We believe God would do it, but we're not sure He would do it for us.
We're either going to believe God or we're going to believe the enemy. We're going to believe God or we're going to believe our feelings.
We're going to believe God or we're going to believe what people tell us. We're going to believe God or we're going to believe our own mind.
We're going to believe God or we're going to believe our circumstances. And I think you've probably been around long enough to know that God's got a better reputation than all the rest of those put together.
Come Boldly Despite Imperfections – Hebrews 4
Let us then, therefore, fearlessly and confidently and boldly, Whoo! Hallelujah!
Because He understands that we are not perfect, let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of His grace that we might receive the help that we need in plenty of time to get us out of trouble.
But how do you come? Boldly. Boldly.
Well, that's hard to do when you've been bad, isn't it? When we've been bad, we're like, Oh God, I...
But the first thing you do is repent. God, I'm sorry for my sins. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
And now in obedience to Your Word, I'm going to pray about my situation. I'm going to do it boldly because I know I'm not going to get anything from You as a coward.
We have to learn how to be bold by faith, be confident by faith, be fearless by faith.
Self-Doubt – Stop Judging Every Move
Self-doubt. What goes on in your mind? Do you judge every move that you make? Oh, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have bought that. I shouldn't have gone there. I shouldn't have eaten that.
I tell you, I... We need to stop doing things that we know we're going to be sorry for while we're doing it.
As soon as you swallow the last bite, then here comes the condemnation. I shouldn't have eaten that. I mean, think about it before you eat it.
And if you want to eat it, eat it in faith and don't be sorry you did it. And if you can't eat it in faith and enjoy it, then leave it alone and don't eat it to start with.
I mean, God's really been teaching me that. Don't do stuff and then turn around and wish you wouldn't have. If you're going to do it, enjoy it. Otherwise, don't do it.
And all we have to do is have a little better planning and know that we can't say yes to ourselves all the time, but we can sometimes.
Hey, after I do these conferences, I always have dessert. And I plan it. It's like I haven't figured out what I'm going to have when I get home yet, but I will have something.
But I don't do it every day or three times a day. There's nothing wrong with having pleasure in life, but you can't just live on pleasure and never partake of the discipline you have to partake of in order to be a balanced person.
Oh, I didn't pray long enough. Well, you know, I prayed, but I didn't pray long enough. And I'm sure I didn't pray right.
And, you know, I did read a chapter in the Bible, but I don't remember what I read. And I probably read the wrong chapter anyway.
And, oh my gosh, Joyce says we've got to confess the Word. And I didn't confess the Word yet today. And here it is bedtime. And, well, you know, failed again.
And, oh, I didn't hug my kids today. There's one of those bumper stickers. Have you hugged your kid today? Now that makes me feel guilty because, no, I didn't hug my kid yet today. Come on.
We all know what I'm talking about. Oh, I spend too much at the grocery store. I talk too much. I should be quieter. I'm not. I'm not. I shouldn't. I'm not. I should be able to do something that you do and start having some confidence. Amen?
Paul's Freedom from Self-Judgment – 1 Corinthians 4
I love Paul's attitude. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul was being judged as to whether or not he was a faithful apostle. And I want you to hear his response.
Verse 3. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 3. But as for me personally, it matters very little to me that I should be put on trial by you on this point and that you or any other human tribunal should investigate and question and cross-question me.
I do not even put myself on trial and judge myself. Now there's freedom. There is freedom. Right there.
He said, I'm not mentally examining every move that I make trying to decide if it's right or wrong.
You know what he goes on to say? I'm not conscious of anything against myself and I feel blameless, but I'm not vindicated and acquitted before God just because I feel blameless.
It's the Lord Himself who examines and judges me. I love that.
He said, I don't know if I'm guilty of anything or not. I don't feel like I am, but who knows? I might be.
However, I'm not going to live in that realm of examining every move that I make and judging myself and criticizing myself.
I am going to trust God that if I'm doing something that He really doesn't like, that He will bring enough conviction in my life to get the point across to me and He will deal with me in such a way that I will stop doing it.
There's freedom in the house today. I know there's got to be some people here today that you are just tired of hearing what you're not and what you should have that you didn't have and what you did that you shouldn't have.
And you're just like, devil, shut up! But you know what, He's never going to stop having an effect on any person who doesn't know who they are in Christ.
You have to know that God loves you and He doesn't love you because you do everything right. He loves you because you want to do what's right.
God loves you and He cares about you because you're open to truth, because you want to know the truth, because you want to learn, because you want to grow.
Well, yeah, but this morning I got impatient with one of my friends while I was on my way. And you know, when I was trying to park, I got a little bit nasty with somebody out there.
And, you know, then I got kind of frustrated out in the, at the resource tables and some lady shoved me and I wanted to knock her down. I mean, after all, what kind of a Christian am I?
I just, it's not going to do me any good to be here. I doubt I'm going to get anything out of this. I doubt, I doubt, I doubt.
Well, that's when you need to go get your shield of faith and say, wait a minute. I believe that God is pleased with me and He understands my weaknesses and my infirmities because He's been tempted at all points just like I have, yet He never sinned.
I have Jesus in my life because I'm not perfect. Come on, I'm trying to take some pressure off of people today.
God Delights in You – Matthew 3
Matthew 3, 16. And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water. And behold, the heavens were opened. And he, John, saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him.
And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son in whom I delight.
Now again, the same thing happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. A voice came out from heaven saying once again, this is my beloved Son in whom I delight. Hear Him. Hear Him.
So we see twice in the life of Jesus, those words come from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
So, you know, we can kind of understand that and get that because after all, that was perfect Jesus.
But I can tell you that if He needed to hear that, if He needed to hear that for confidence and affirmation, how much more do we need to hear that for confidence and affirmation?
What if Jesus would have said, oh, no, no. Come on, I dare you to look at yourself in the mirror every morning and say, God lives in this suit of clothes. God lives in me.
I'm a partner with God. He sent His Son to die for me. And I declare boldly that although I don't do everything perfectly right, and I'm likely to make some mistakes today, God is pleased with me.
Come on, you got that much courage? Do you have that much courage? Can you do that?
And I know right now some of you are already cringing. It's like, why? Don't you feel it? The shriveling up.
There's the devil trying to shrivel up your spirit, you know, like.
How can I say that with the things that I do? I didn't say God's pleased with all your behavior.